Q&A

CC BY-NC-ND, WingedWolf, Flickr

This may be the first blog you’ve come across where the writer interviews himself. Oh well! You’ll get to know me better. Most of the questions are hypothetical and none are spiritual like the blog. So I’m your fish and this is the fishbowl!

THE INTERVIEW

L: We’ll start with the questions that are not hypothetical. What part of your morning routine do you consider essential?

M: Essential would be the shower. I don’t care if I’ve taken a shower before bed—because I know some people do that to omit a morning shower—I still need it because it’s an important step in my morning wake up-think about the day routine.

L: What is the cheapest price you can remember paying for gas?

M: Eighty-seven cents. I remember driving home in my blue ’87 Honda CRV, passing by the Sunrise gas mart on the corner, and seeing the price. I was shocked. I didn’t need gas but I returned and filled the tank anyway!

L: When you are feeling sad, what food or meal cheers you up?

M: It’s always ice cream. In fact, if I’m worried I’ll get an urge for ice cream and sweets. So I have to control myself. It really is a comfort food for me.

L: When you are running late what excuse do you make?

M: I don’t make excuses; I tell it like it is. But this usually never happens because I don’t run late. I have a real reputation in my family for punctuality.

L: Should that be understood as a positive or negative reputation?

M: Let’s just say they know to be on time when I’m driving!

L: When you wrong someone, how do you apologize?

M: I approach them and explain my error and ask for their forgiveness. I also try to clear the air between us by expressing my truest feelings and making sure they have the opportunity to say all they need to say to me.

L: How would you spend a multi-million dollar lottery win?

M: I’d return to school for a Master in Non-Profit Management and use the tithe of that money to start a thriving charitable organization and foundation. Of course, I’d take care of my family; relocate and build a home; and perhaps look for long-term relationship.

L: Okay, now for the hypotheticals. If you could be any age how old would you be?

M: The age I really enjoyed and still try to pass off on others is 27. I was actually on campus then! But I was fit, enjoying my education and friends, and all-around in the best place I’ve ever been.

L: If you could have one superpower what would it be?

M: I’d like to have the power to know all languages, past and present, and to be able to create languages. With my power would come the ability to fully understand civilizations since language is a primary cultural repository. Diplomats and the science world would eat me up!

L: If you were stranded in the remote wilderness, would you eat one of your dead traveling companions to survive?

M: Yes, I would.

L: This question is similar to the last one—if you were stranded on a deserted island, would you eat an endangered species to survive?

M: Most definitely—yes. I possess more value than that creature, although I’m sad it’s endangered. My travel mate, however, that’s a tough call; but I think in the end it’s justified.

L: If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?

M: I’d change my college major and career trajectory. Let me say it plainly: I’d do what I could educationally to guarantee that I was in the dead-center of a booming career field making a lot of money. That sounds bad to some people, but I’ve learned that if you’re not marketable or a standout in some way, education means nothing. If it doesn’t translate into money for the organization, it won’t translate into money for you.

L: If you could live in any home on a television series, which one would it be?

M: Oh gosh! It would have to be the Braverman home on the NBC drama “Parenthood”—hands-down.

L: If you had to spend the rest of your life eating the food of one country, which country would it be?

M: Drumroll please…it would be China. I love Mexican and Italian, but I could eat Chinese every day of my life.

L: If you were a professional athlete, what sport would you play?

M: Well the question assumes my prowess, so I must say tennis, my favorite.

L: If you could go on a vacation anywhere in the U.S., where would it be?

M: I don’t know. There are so many places I want to see, and it’s hard for me to nail down one optimum place. The only requirement is that location would have to include big mountains and possibly skiing.

L: What would you want your friends and family to say at your funeral?

M: That he really loved the Lord and cared about others.

L: Would you accept $1 million to leave your country and never set foot in it again?

M: I think so.

L: If you could eat only one food and nothing else for three days in a row, what would it be?

M: Oh boy! It would be homemade macaroni-n-cheese—next question!

L: If money was no object, how would you take a special someone on the perfect date?

M: Money is no object…okay. This date would comprise a full day. It would begin with early morning breakfast on my private jet departing the East Coast for the West Coast. The ride would include discussion, movies, games, and music. We’d arrive and have our things taken to our hotel while we took a chauffeured vehicle to grab a nice lunch. Then, we’d go the hotel and nap before an early evening symphony performance. Thereafter, we’d have an exquisite meal on a chartered luxury yacht, just in time to see the sun go down on the West Coast. Finally, we’d head back East.

L: If you could have lunch with anyone from history, who would it be?

M: It would be my father. He died when I was four; I never had a chance to know him.